Discovering Workability: One year after the Landmark Forum.

Slightly over a year ago, I saw this tweet from @locococomoco:

"Any tweeps out there who will be attending the Landmark Forum from tommorow?"

Now, Loco is in the "stratosphere-nose bleed" league of cool people. So i figured I'd check out what this Landmark biz is all about. The results of a quick Google search were frankly not encouraging. 

Thing is, Loco, despite her moniker is a very 'together' individual. So I took a chance and showed up at the Sarit center exhibition hall on a Tuesday night. That's when my journey begun.

It started with a really basic question. 

What matters to you?

My answer to that initially was Money. Money makes the world go round. So logically, if i have money, i would be able to throw it at any situation and stuff would start working again. 

Sounds nuts huh?

I walked into the landmark forum pretty sure that i'll get some insights into how I'd make more money. I walked out with something profoundly more valuable. 

The money was not what  i actually wanted all along...it's what the money gets you. So..I want the money, to buy me a nice house, which get me a feeling of security, which leaves me relaxed, at ease and confident. 

So that what i really wanted all along...to be relaxed, at ease and confident. 

More importantly, i want to be that person regardless of what my personal finances look like. I want workability. To have a say in how my life goes. 

That, ladies and gents, is what i walked out with from the Landmark forum. 

On saturday the 5th of May 2012, we will have an entire day of introductions to this fabulous education. We'll be doing this at Under the Radar. This is my invitation to you. 

Come and expereince workability like you've never experienced it before. The Landmark forum costs 14,000 shillings. You can register with 4,000 3,000 shillings and pay the balance before the next forum. This is in Sept 7,8,9 and 11th 2012. 

I do promise you one thing. This stuff works. 

I’m not afraid…ok so who am I kidding?

I’m addicted.

I guess a whole lot of the people I interact with are addicts too…and our fix is that lethal S substance. It’s the whole reason we sit through insane inane meetings every week. The reason we roll out of bed on a weekday morning…whimpering on the realization that it is not the weekend.

I’m talking about salaries.

A quick glance on my timeline each morning has people griping about what day of the week it is. (incidentally, twitter makes for a GREAT calendar for tracking days of the week)

The mood becomes positively electric as the end of the month approaches. It's like everyone has been given a shot of euphoria…offers to throw rounds (at least in the pre Mututho era) and parties all round..

Then a week later, the griping begins.

But what happens when the opportunity to wean yourself off a salary comes along?

I’m kinda struggling with that. A young startup with a great deal of promise has approached me and said the dreaded words: “Lets deal”

Now they don’t have the same organizational structures as my employer. They don’t have the medical packages and cushy allowances. They are promising insane hours and a very real threat of public humiliation should Murphy begin to actively enforce his laws. And the product they want to take to market will put me squarely in the glare of the public.

If it does go well, its still not all deviled eggs, caviar and pink champagne. There are a list of heavy hitters who have sunk quite a bit of their money and they are expecting a handsome return. So in terms of payoff..I’d way over there in the back of the park.

That said and done, I do know that the path to wealth does not have salary affixed to it. Every company alive today did so because an individual somewhere stood up and decided to create something. And the urge to create something and leave a legacy is pushing hard on me…

I have to make that call soon. Whether it turns out to be right or wrong is immaterial for now. What counts for me is the courage to choose the path less trodden.

Wish me luck.

For Angel. The beautiful little girl that died of a broken heart.

For Nganga and Susan,

We grieve with you. Cry with you. Laugh with you. Pray with you. She is yours by birth and ours collectively by blood. I have no words in which to express this loss. But words aren't required. Our eyes say it all. I found words from others who have experienced such loss. I'll share them with you. For you shall not walk alone on this dark path. We'll walk with you. Physically. Mentally. Spiritually.

If tears could build a stairway,
and memories a lane,
I'd walk right up to heaven,
and bring you home again.

If every tear we shed for you,
became a star above,
You'd stroll amongst the angels in heavens garden,
Lit by everlasting love

A thousand words can't bring you back,
We know because we tried.
And neither can a million tears,
We know because we cried.

An Angel in the book of life,
Wrote down our baby's birth
And whispered as she closed the book,
"Too beautiful for earth"

Death leaves a heartache,
No one but God can heal.
Love leaves a memory,
No one on earth can steal.


They say that time in heaven is compared to the blink of an eye on this earth. Sometimes it helps to think of Angel running ahead of you in a field of beautiful flowers and butterflies. So happy and completely caught up in what she is doing that when she looks behind her, You will already be there.

I love you Nganga and Susan.

I love and miss you Angel. Wish you were here.

Yo! 13 year old me...listen up

Right...so some peeps on my time line...have been doing letters to their 13 year old selves. After that you're to tag 4 other tweeps. My tagger as it were is @mwirigi (read his letter here) So here goes..

Dear Sam.

Its your last year in Nyahururu. Dad's brilliant game plan for getting you into a national school is about to fall to pieces. No worries though. Those interviews paid off and you are going into what is possibly the best high school experience a young man can have.

Your eldest bro and sis are already in India. Big sis sends Archie comics and stickers which raise your "coolness factor" among your peers. Don't let it get to your head though. Learn to share stuff...there is always enough to go round.

Mom will be leaving the country for a few in a very short while. No hiding behind her skirts anymore. make peace wit your dad early. He doesn't get you...but he means well...seriously.

Repeat after me: "Tooth hygiene is NOT optional". There is a reason why Sharon your deskmate eyes cross when you speak to her. However, her brown teeth are NOT your fault....technically.

You will have a totally bitching Dec wit your cuz Leo who will introduce you to fast chicks, clubbing and alcohol..often withing 5 minutes of each. And while it is generally excellent to have backup when engaged in a bar fight, don't abuse the privilege.

Your last fight with bro2 is coming up. You will lose. Badly. Seriously...he will smack the black off you. Love him regardless...coz you asked for it.

Lil sis looks up to you. You might think she's a pain and a crybaby...but she's a LOT deeper than you think. And that sarcasm thing you do....trying to be all snarky and cynical. She grows up to school your ass in it. But you get over it...eventually.

You ant Tony have started the chick hunt thing. Remember the "Rock of thought" where you laid out your strategies? Thats when Tony started being more than just your cuz..and became one of your best friends. Oh...and those chicks you'll be going after? It won't work out...but the chase will be fun. And no...almost 20 years down the line, you still don't get chicks.

All in all...you're a pretty solid kid. Keep the love of reading (strictly non textbook) alive. It will serve you well. You know enough to realise you don't know much at all.

Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

Who to tag.....hmmm

I'll go with @shuhi @milonare @nbad_kitty @magaribina

So you are a critic eh? Get a life....

I think critics suck.

They suck eggs. Green nasty 50 day old eggs that are putrid, smelly,disgu.....i think you get the picture.

I guess we are all guilty of unleashing criticism from time to time...a kind of differing of opinion of what something is presented as and what we perceive it to be. I have no issues with this kind of expression and actively encourage it. It would be a dull world indeed should we all be singing off the same hymn book (which is why the bible's vision of heaven scares the crap out of me..)

But the part i detest is the vicious sniping of another human beings effort. I don't like chick flicks...and so i don't watch em. As Tupac said in lord knows which track (is he really dead?) "You don't have to like it, but please respect it..."

I love what JAB did with the HAHE vid and I got rather disturbed by some of the negative comments that got put up on the bands facebook page. They weren't constructive...just the usual "This is a shit video....by 2 yr old brother could do better..." vibe.

Sorry. They can't.

Which is why the final speech/review from Anton Ego in Ratatouille are so apt.

*SPOILER ALERT*

If you have not watched the movie yet...what on earth are you waiting for??

"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talents, new creations. The new needs friends"

Be a friend to the new....

Goliath doesn't like rocks

Right...so CCK gazetted new rules that aim to regulate the abuse of a dominant companies dominant position.

Well...here's my 5 cents (adjusted for inflation)

1. In any sector of any economy...the dominant player calls the shots. Kenya Airways can (and does) charge a premium for inland routes in Africa. Simply because there isn't a viable competitor that can offer the number of connections and frequencies it offers to these destinations. By the same breadth, Safaricom finds it very profitable to keep its users in a walled garden where they can be milked in relative peace and serenity. Breaking the "Safaricom club" is probably the key case study for most marketing professionals now. 1st person to crack it can expect to cash in heavily...until big green counters.

2. Kenyans accept and embrace mediocrity. You see it in the leaders we elect, in the poor standards of service we put up with from government and some businesses (KPLC are you listening??) and more area than i care to delve into. Safaricom has been no exception and has in the past been consistently underwhelmed subscriber with sub-par service. That said, the green giant is trying to up its game in terms of service delivery and have succeeded in some measure.

3. The contentious 3G licencing fee: CCK set the fee at $25M. Safaricom ponied up the cash and went happily on its way. Zain (then Celtel) felt the tag was too steep at the time and focused on improving the quality of its calls. Well....i guess we all know how that turned out. In their defense, Zain had little option as far as broad band strategies to pursue are concerned. The only other viable alternative is Wimax...which is a "fixed" as opposed to mobile technology. Wimax has a considerably steeper acceptance and upgrade path for consumers and presents several integration issues for a telco. Compound that with a lack of available spectrum and you are left with a sitting duck.

I get where the 3 entrants are at. They all have mother companies to report back to....and their balance sheets have more red stuff than all blood-banks in the region combined. So they will call for back up and hope that they get some kryptonite rock....coz a pissed of Goliath has the ability to drop kick their butts into 3 continents..

Be afraid David(s)/. Be very afraid.

Writers Block ....is it transmitted through dandruff?

OK. I admit it it.

I may be in over my head where this blogging thing is concerned. The most critical thing about it is that i simply won't make the time for it. That's why I deeply admire the peeps whose blogs I follow. It takes some dedication to think up a topic, write out a draft, refine it and put it out there for the unwashed masses to consume.

Then you come back to check out the comments and find:

• Nothing
• the juvenile clowns with their "1st!!!" and other similarly trivial input or
• the born critic who claims they can type better using their teeth and wonder if you substituted grey matter for warm dog vomit.

But in their midst, there are the gems who give you valuable feedback and insight. And more often than not, these would be the seeds of the next story you embark on exploring.

In the meantime, i wonder what timing works best for these endeavours...I've contemplated doing a 5 am post...but the blankets consistently execute their seize and detain campaign on me...

sigh..